End structure for gondola cars.



W. i, MURPHY.

END STRUCTURE FOR GONDOLA CARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 191a.

hggsfimg Patented A -l. 8,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PV/TNESSES: ZhI LENTOR.

w. P, MURPHY.

END STRUCTURE FOR GONDOLA CARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8. 1913.

1 ,2 99,99 1 Etented Apr. 8, 1919.

'3 SHEETS-SHEET fi/NVENfTOR.

W. P. MURPHY.

END STR UCTURE F OR GONDOLA CARS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1913.

1,299,991 I Patented Apr. 8,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 WZTNESSES- fl wgw; f %Wzf ATTORNEY ll %A% All errors.

STRUCTURE roe compote cares.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. a, rare.

Application filed November 8, 1913. Serial in. 799,988.

i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER I. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in End Structures for Gondola Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railway cars of the gondola type, and hasfo'r its object to rovide a new and improved end structure for cars of this character which can be applied either to new cars when first built or to old cars to replace the ordinary end structures when the latter are broken or injured. Because of the inertia of the cargo the ends of a gondola car are subjected to stresses and pressures when the train starts and stops' which are much heavier and more destruc' tive than the stresses and pressures exerted against the sides of a car, for example. My

invention seeks to provide an end structure for cars of this type 'which, without being unduly heavy or bulky, will be very stiff, strong and urable so that it will not be broken or deflected by the heavy thrusts and stresses to which it is necessarily subjected when in service.

My invention is disclosed herein, in certain preferred embodiments, which however) might be modified in certain respects as will be apparent, without departure from the in vention.

Figure 1 is an endelevation of the body of a gondola car fitted with a sheet.- metal end constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a'sectiona l plan taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig.

3 illustrating a modification.

Fig. 4 is a view, similar to Fig. 3, showing another modification. i

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing another modification, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional plan on line 7-? of Fig. 6.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 designates the end sill of a gondola car and 11, 11 the side wall structure thereof.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the form of end structure shown in these figures consists of a sheet of metal 12 secured to the end sill 1G, or equivalent part of the end frame of the car by means of an angle bar 13, and formed on its outer edges with flanges 14 suitably secured to the side wall structures 11 of the car, for example, by means of bolts 15, the end structure being shown in these drawings as applied to a wooden car with a metal end sill. The sheet 12 is formed with pressed ribs or corruga tions 16 which preferably extend vertically of the sheet and terminate within the upper and lower edges thereof. The fiat or noncorrugated margins at the top and bottom of the sheet resist the tendency of the sheet to deflect under a heavy thrust at the middle of the sheet since the metal on the flat margins will have to stretch before the corrugations of the middle portion can expand or flatten out. The structure is further strengthened and rigidified by means of stiffening member 17 at the upper edge of the sheet which takes the stresses upwardly transmitted by the ribs or corrugations, this member being, in the construction shown in these figures, 2. separate angle bar secured at intervals to the sheet by means of rivets 18. This angle iron 1'2 preferably has the extrernities of its vertical web bent over as indicated at 19 and secured to the inner surfaces of the side wall. Preferably angle bars 20 are provided at the side of the car through one flange of which the bolts 15 pass and the other flange, in each case, being riveted to the and sheet In erder to further strengthen and rigidify the end sheet crossbands 21 may be provided which are riveted to each corrugation so that these bands, in efiect, tie

.the corrugations together and serve to prevent any abnormally tening them out.

A slight modification is shown in Fig. 3".

heavy thrust from flat- Instead of employing separate angles at the top and bottom of the end sheet the end sheet, here designated 12%, is formed with an angular flange 22 at its upper edge and at its lower edge with an angular flange 23 which is preferably inturned so that it intervenes between the end sill 10 and the flooring'Ql of the car making a tight joint between the end sheet and the car structure at the bottom of the sheet. The provision of the lower edge of the end sheet with the angle iron 13 or the angular flange 23 tends sheet than the upper edge.

to strengthen the end structure at the bot- .tom where particularly in carrying material in bulk, 'lsuch as coal and the like, the thrusts and pressures will be greatest.

In the constructions just described, the pressed out ribs 16 are of uniform depth except where they die out at the extremities. In the construction shown in Figs. 4: and 5 the end sheet 12*, which may, if desired, be reinforced by the bands 21 as in the other construction, is formed with pressed out ribs or corrugations 16 which are deepest at the bottom of the sheet and taper toward the top. This arrangement gives a maximum of strength and rigidity in the lower portion of the end sheet against which portion the pressures and'stresses are greatest and in this respect is a more suitable construction for this particular type of car. It has this disadvantage, however, that pockets are formed which might be somewhat inconvenient to clean out where the cargo is coal or other material of a granular character.

The advantages shown in the two forms of the invention above described are combined in the form of invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Here the end sheet 12 is formed with ribs or corrugations 16 which are deepest along a line intermediate the upper and lower edges of the end but which is considerably nearer the lower edge of the The corrugations taper toward the bottom of the end as well as toward the top so that they are self cleaning so far as any dry material is concerned. In this construction the ribs or corrugations may be tied together by one or more cross bands as in the other form of the invention above described. For example, a band 21 may be employed which is riveted to the end sheet at the deepest points of the corrugationsl I claim:

1. The combination with the other. elements of a gondola car, of a sheet metal end structure comprising an end sheet provided 1,2ee,ee1 Y 2. A wall structure comprising a sheet of metal formed with pressed strengthening and rigidifyin g ribs which terminate within the edges of said sheet, and a metal band traversing the sheet and said ribs fastened to the ribs.

3. The combination with the other elements of a gondola car, of an end structure for said car comprising a sheet of metal formed with pressed strengthening and rigidifying ribs and with marginal portions for attachment to the side wall structures of the car, and a metal band. traversing said sheet and ribs, secured to the ribs, and fastened to said side marginal portionsand to the side wall structures of the car.

4. The combination with the other elements of a gondola car, of a sheet metal end structure comprising an end sheet provided with pressed strengthening and rigidifying ribs and provided with angular attaching members along the vertical edges of said sheet for attachment to the, side wall structures of the car, marginal stifiening members comprising angular attaching members WALTER r. MURPHY.

Witnesses:

HARRY W. STANNARD, LUCY A. FALKENBERG.

and 

